News

As Chair of the Baylor University Board of Regents, Mark Rountree works closely with President Livingstone and Baylor leadership. This year, he assumed the role as Chair as the University navigated a global pandemic and addressed important social issues. In this Baylor Connections, Rountree examines leadership amidst rapidly-changing conditions, sharing how the university worked towards an in-person semester and is responding to issues of injustice and racial inequality.

Scotty Watson talks about how Improvisational theatre helps him understand how his customers are wired.

(New installments of the Business Review are on hold due to Covid-19.  This is a repeat of a previously aired segment.)

By day, Scotty Watson is Chief Marketing Officer at the Provident Loan Society of New York… a not-for-profit organization of pawn shops in New York City offering short-term cash advances.  By night, he teaches improvisational theatre…  as a veteran of Chicago’s renowned second city troupe, Watson says the skill works well in increasing his marketing business.  He’s found improv helps him connect better with 

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry.

It is not often I see a new novel, open to the first page, and then buy and begin reading.  But it has happened now.  Furthermore, Charlotte McConaghy’s first novel Migrations, is by an unknown writer.  As I began to read, I gathered the subject of the novel revolved around the effects of climate change, overfishing in the oceans, and attempts to find the last flock of Arctic terns.  I was immediately overcome with the beauty of her prose.  She—and several other characters--also migrate.

The Mineral Wells Index covered the small city for more than a century. In May, it shut down, joining dozens of other newspapers that have been driven out of business by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students with large social media followings can get merchandise or university “experiences” to then share with their followers online.

The Texas Association of Family Physicians says practices have seen at least a 50% decline in income since the pandemic began. It says the way doctors are paid is part of the reason.

Remembering a sax player who changed the course of American music

Last month was the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of America’s most influential musicians.  Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City, Kansas on August 29, 1920 and began playing the saxophone when he was 11.  At age 15—which would’ve been 1935 and in the depths of the Great Depression—he dropped out of school to pursue music full time.  He once told another sax player that when he was young, he’d practice as much as 15 hours a day.  He joined the local chapter of the musician’s union and for four years played the very lively Kansas City jazz and blues circuit.  Soon he was touring with bands as far afield as Chicago and New York.

In 1939 he decided to stay in New York City and dive into its music scene.  He initially got by working as a dishwasher to make enough money to live on.  He was a 

The Roscoe Robinson-led New Heavenly Wonders recorded the Philadelphia soul-inspired "Ain't No Love (Like Jesus Love)" in the early 1970's.

Hear the full track below!

For Baylor faculty members, the monumental efforts to deliver interactive, engaging classes amidst the COVID-19 public health crisis necessitate learning new technologies and methods of class content delivery. In this Baylor Connections, Dr. Nancy Brickhouse, Baylor University Provost, breaks down resources to enhance class instruction both virtually and in-person and shares how the University is continuing to advance meaningful research goals to address critical challenges.

In this week's Central Texas Leadership Series, KWBU President Joe Riley is joined by Waco Fire Chief Gregory Summers. They discuss Chief Summers' history in firefighting, his move to Waco, and the significance of 9/11 in the firefighting community. 

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry.

A couple of years ago, I read The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 and ¼ Years old.  I have recently retired, so I decided to explore the sequel, On the Bright Side: The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen.  It proved to be funny, with a measure of pathos.

The story begins on “Wednesday, December 31, 2014.  […] I shall do my best, but there is to be no whining if the diary I am starting tomorrow does not make it all the way through to the end of the year.  A one-in-five chance” (1).  Fortunately, he makes it.

A biotech company plans to release 750 million genetically modified male mosquitoes that would produce “less fit” offspring.

Chief Reneé Hall has been criticized for how her department handled this summer’s protests against police brutality. Activists want her removed; Dallas City Council members are questioning her leadership.

A former Travis County sheriff is among those urging that the Texas Legislature step in to overturn $150 million in cuts made to the capital city’s police budget.